‘GTA V' Heists Release Date Update: Rockstar Confirms DLC Out In ‘Early 2015'

A Promotion Of 'Grand Theft Auto Five' — A promotion for the computer game "Grand Theft Auto Five" is show in a Game Stop gaming story in Encinitas, California September 17, 2013. Reuters/Mike Blake

After the massive leak of details concerning the release of online Heists for "GTA V," Rockstar Games has finally confirmed the DLC will come next year. Along with a recently released trailer, Rockstar also explains the reason for the content's delay.

Rockstar on its newswire announced on Tuesday, Dec. 15 that the DLC is "coming in early 2015" but no exact release date was mentioned. However, Heists for "GTA V Online" will reportedly be free to all consoles e.g. Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC. Additionally, the promise of "new gameplay, new vehicles, new weapons and new clothing," to name a few, could be seen from the first trailer shared on the site as a sneak peek into the Heists missions.

As for the delay, "GTA Online" producer and lead mission designer Imran Sarwar explained to IGN the challenges encountered in the development. When asked on "why it has taken so long for Heists to come together," Sarwar claimed it was the creation of each mission that mostly contributed to the delayed release.

"As it turns out, creating missions of that complexity for multiple players at the same time was much more difficult than we anticipated and every time we thought we were close, something would send us back to square one," he said.

What's reportedly "much more challenging" is having the player "feel central to the action at all times." Sarwar pointed out the critical task of having the player (say a getaway driver) do something interesting at exactly the same time when others are robbing a bank somewhere.

According to Sarwar another challenge came even after designers had finally settled on the four-player structure that gamers will experience in "GTA V." Developers reportedly needed more time to link Heists to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game. Not to mention the constant work being done to update "GTA V Online" in preparation for the DLC.

Additionally, Sarwar clarified that Rockstar never meant to delay the releaes of online Heists for "GTA V." They reportedly wanted to perfect the DLC first and claimed "if something is delayed, it's because it's not at the level we expect of ourselves."